This invention relates to drawer slide locking hardware and particularly to an improved mechanism for pivoting a pivotable mount coupled to a drawer slide track.
Convenient access to articles contained in cabinets, chests, or other storage devices can be encouraged by constructing movable drawers or shelving that can be easily extended outward from the body of the storage device when access is desired, and returned into the body of the storage device after the desired article is retrieved. A commonly employed mechanism for enabling the relative movement of a drawer and a storage device is a sliding track, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,950,040 to Fall, or U.S. Pat. No. 4,089,568 to Fall et al., both herein incorporated by reference.
However, to ensure ready access to devices such as electronic components mounted in drawers, the removal of the drawer has generally been required. Although removing the drawer with mounted electronic components for servicing or replacement is feasible, because of the delicacy of many electronic components and the weight and general unwieldiness of the drawer, it is possible to damage the electronic components if the drawer is removed from its supporting slide tracks. This is a particular problem for large consumer electronics such as wide screen television sets, in which the electronic components may be positioned far inside the cabinet. To prevent damage to the electronic components of televisions during service or maintenance, provision of an apparatus that permits a drawer with mounted electronics to be extended outward from the television cabinet and rotated to a serviceable position without requiring displacement of the drawer from a slide track is desired.
In accordance with the present invention a drawer pivot assembly includes a drawer and a drawer support plate appended to the drawer. A drawer slide that is attached to a pivot guide plate and the pivot guide plate is formed to define a guide path therein. Following means is appended to the drawer support plate for following the guide path defined within the pivot guide plate. As the the drawer and drawer support plate are moved relative to the pivot guide plate in response to pivoting movement of the drawer relative to the drawer slide, the following means and guide path cooperate to guide the drawer to a desired position.
In preferred embodiments the guide path defined within the pivot guide plate is formed by a first guide slot defined by the pivot guide plate. The pivot guide plate can also be formed to include a second guide slot. The following means can include first and second guide posts mounted to the drawer support plate to respectively project from the drawer support plate and ride in the first and second guide slots defined in the pivot guide plate.
In other preferred embodiments, the guide slots have a start and a finish, and are respectively connected to starting and finishing slots that define resting positions for the drawer support plate. The guide posts are mounted to project from the drawer support plate and can slidably or rollingly ride in the first and second guide slots. When the guide posts move to either the starting or finishing slot, further rotation of the drawer support plate is prevented. Intermediate slots can also be formed connecting to the first or second guide slots to allow the drawer support plate to rest in an orientation rotated some predefined amount relative to the drawer slide.
A feature of this invention is a drawer slide assembly that enables a drawer to be extended from a cabinet and reversibly rotated from a home position to a pivoted position. In addition, the drawer can be extended from a cabinet and rotated relative to a drawer slide track supporting the drawer between several different pivot positions.
An advantageous feature of the invention is that rotation of a drawer to a desired position is a one-handed operation. The drawer can be extended outward from a cabinet and slightly lifted to move the guide posts out of the starting slots where they rest in a home position into the guide slot. The drawer can then be upwardly or downwardly rotated to follow a predetermined guide path defined by the guide slot until it moves into either an intermediate or finishing slot, wherupon the guide posts drop into place in their resting position and further rotation of the drawer support plate and attached drawer is stopped. Of course, this one-handed operation can be reversed, with the drawer being moved from a finishing or intermediate position back to the starting home position.
Additional objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art on consideration of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.